Blog
June 25, 2025
Developer tools can be a powerful resource in a developer’s tool chest to save time, increase productivity, write better code, and more. But investigating and implementing Java tools can be a challenging task for Java development teams that are constantly hopping between sprints and fire drills.
It’s not enough to simply toss a few licenses to your developers and then call it a day. Smart Java development leaders need a plan to onboard developers, ensure organization-wide adoption, and measure ROI.
Looking for more expert insights on how to maximize Java developer productivity by incorporating Java tools? Watch this recorded webinar with Rod Cope, CTO of Perforce Software, and Justin Reock, Deputy CTO of DX, on actionable strategies to improve developer productivity.
What Are The Top Challenges for Java Development Teams
Businesses today are tasked with doing more with less, and increasingly in more cumbersome development environments. According to the 2025 Java Developer Productivity Report, Java developers said that their biggest barriers to productivity were insufficient documentation (41%), communication issues between teams (38%), and
mismanaged timelines (32%). Long redeploy times (29%), developer turnover (26%), and insufficient developer tools (24%) also made the list.
These challenges make a lot of sense when you consider the challenges facing Java development teams today. Documentation can get out of date quickly and be time-consuming to maintain. Fortunately, AI tools can help automate documentation in many instances.
Other barriers to productivity can build on each other. For instance, communication issues across teams can lead to mismanaged timelines. Some barriers don't have easy solutions given today's business environment: 48% of development leaders don't plan to increase headcount in 2025 or aren't sure. That talent shortage can force teams to make more efficient use of the resources they do have. And some barriers are easily solved for. Insufficient developer tools leads to more manual tasks. Investing in Java tools to fill these holes can quickly generate ROI.
What Is Developer Experience?
Developer experience focuses on points of friction in a developer's workflow and the level of satisfaction they derive from their jobs.
What Influences Developer Experience?
Many factors contribute to developer experience, but one point is crucial to remember: Happier developers write better code. Here are some of the factors that influence developer experience for Java developers.
Development Environment
Java developers are often more productive when they're working with enterprise-ready Java tools and frameworks, and have the freedom to customize their individual development environments to their preferences.
Developer Overhead
Developer overhead (i.e., the time spent on ancilliary tasks) can account for anywhere from 10-80% of a developer's time each day. Allowing developers to spend more time coding can increase productivity and job satisfaction.
Development Tools
Provide developers with an arsenal of enterprise-ready tools that can help reduce friction in the Java development process.
Can Developer Experience Be Quantified?
Yes, developer experience can be quanified, and there are several well-established metrics for doing so, including DORA, SPACE, and DevEx Framework.
DORA
DORA (DevOps Research and Assessment) metrics are a set of four key measurements used to evaluate the performance of software development teams. These metrics are: Deployment Frequency, Mean Lead Time for Changes, Mean Time to Recover, and Change Failure Rate.
One key criticism of DORA metrics is that they do not focus enough on developer experience.
SPACE Framework
The SPACE Framework measures five key areas:
- Satisfaction
- Performance
- Activity
- Communication and collaboration
- Efficiency and flow
SPACE is different from other developer experience metrics in that it balances the well-being of the developer with developer output.
Core 4
The Core 4 is a unified framework for measuring developer productivity that encapuslates key data points form DORA, SPACE, and DevEx. It's key output is the Developer Experience Index (DXI), which is a normalized index (on a scale of 1-100) that is distilled from 14 different drivers.
How Can Developer Experience Metrics Be Improved?
Quite simply, the easiest and most impactful way to improve developer experience is to care. Other factors that can help improve developer experience metrics include:
- Promote flexibility wherever possible.
- Enable deep work.
- Invest in Java tools.
Tips for Choosing Java Development Tools
It's not enough to just throw some free tools at your Java development team. They need to be enterprise-ready tools that address the key pain points affecting developer experience. Here are some tips for choosing Java tools.
- Consider how AI and traditional tools can complement each other, not compete
- Consider prime use cases for tools in your dev environment, now and in the future
- Involve developers in the evaluation process
- Consider your value stream, identify points of toiland friction, and consider whether GenAI can help
- Capture qualitative and quantitative metrics aboutGenAI impact, positive and negative
- Consider security, data residency, and compliance needs to match your business constraints
How to Ensure Organization-Wide Java Tool Adoption
Organizational buy-in at the developer level is an essential part of generating ROI from Java tools. Here are some expert tips for securing adoption of Java tools across your development team.
- Leverage productivity teams to lead investigation and implementation
- Implement team POCs and prove ROI to gain leadership buy-in
- Ensure engineers have access to all onboarding materials
- Measure utilization, CSAT, and adoption metrics
- Provide continued education in the use and best practices of the tooling
- Celebrate high utilization and wins organization-wide, decide on renewals based on developer sentiment and adoption metrics
Metrics Matter in Proving ROI of Java Tools
Goodhart’s Law says that when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to become a good measure. This holds true for Java tool metrics. Avoid becoming overally focused on one metric. Instead, look at multiple metrics across multiple dimensions, including those that measure greater business value vs. simply engineering throughput.
Some smart organizations have used the tool license itself as a carrot to increase adoption. Developers who are not using the tool are notified that their license might be returned to the pool to encourage increased usage.
Whatever your method, a strong proof of concept (POC) pilot can be an effective way to secure developer buy-in because the POC offers a real-world framework for the benefits the tool poses.
Final Thoughts
Ready to start evaluating Java tools? Start with JRebel. By eliminating redeploys, your developers can maximize their flow state and spend more time actually coding. See for yourself during a 14-day free trial.